Continuous casting of metal alloys is used to produce large volumes of high quality metal alloys. While the initial capital investment is higher than for the other traditional casting methods, continuous casting allows for the economical casting of large volumes of metals and alloys.
While the general steps of the continuous casting process are the same for almost all metal and alloys, specific parameters, such as melt temperature, cooling rates, draw rates, die dimension vary significantly from metal to metal. In addition, the tolerances permitted by different metals and alloys is very small. Failure to maintain the proper parameters in the process can lead to catastrophic results.
Lead-free bronze alloy or those alloys about having a lead content of about 2 wt % or less, typically less than about 0.10 weight percent lead. Of particular interest is lead-free bronze alloys that contain low amounts of zinc, e.g. 2.0 wt % or less. These alloys are particularly useful when dezincification is an issue.
Until now, low lead alloys have been cast using either sand casting or investment cast process. While these processes generally involve less capital investment, they are not amenable to the casting of significant volumes of alloy. Thus, there exists a need for a method of continuously casting lead-free alloys.